The first Concrete House Traditional Cache
Crow T Robot: Please contact me if this one is resolved. Thanks.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Petach Tikwah, south of road 5*. Summer: terrain 2, winter: terrain 3.
You can park your car 250 meters from the cache.
Coming from road 40, follow the (brown) signs to the Baptist Village (behind the large traffic sign which says “Yarkon Interchange 500 meters”) until you arrive to the T-junction. Turn North (direction of Tnuva).
At the electric gate our ways split:
If you drive a family car you ‘d better look for a parking place -at least in winter- (f.ex. N 32° 07.068 E 34° 54.490) in order to continue from there on foot, towards the concrete building, through the fields.
If you are driving a 4x4 or if you are biking, you can continue by taking the dirt road (don’t enter through the gate, it belongs to the industrial area). After 275 meters (more adventurous after rain fall) or also after 375 meters turn East. From here you will be able to see the building at a distance of 750 meters.
A third possibility is following the (brown) signs to the Baptist Village (behind the large traffic sign which says “Yarkon Interchange 500 meters”) until you arrive to the T-junction and take right, than immediately left. Continue until a few meters before the entrance to the National Park and turn left. Follow the trail. You will pass the “mini air port Minchat Ayal” and 250 meters afterwards you will be able to see the concrete house.
In the rain season you may sink 2 to 6 centimeters into the mud. Dress accordingly!
The first concrete house of Israel (Beyt Habeton Harishon) was actually a water pump installation to irrigate the fields in the surroundings of Petach Tikwah.
The building dates from about 1912 and was designed by Daniel Lichtenstein, an architect of Polish origin.
It was Lichtenstein who decided to use -for the first time in Israel- fortified concrete in stead of stone and clay. Another novelty was a diesel operated centrifugal pump, installed at the inside of the building (no remains left).
Unfortunately, the use of the installation stopped already a few years after its inauguration due to the lack of oil, as a consequence of World War II.
Later on, the building was sold to the Yarkon Company (connected to the electricity company) and it was in use until the end of the seventies. Ever since, it remained empty.
* Hint: If you think you are good at field navigation with road maps (and some of us are, LOL), be careful not to find yourself on road 5, 200 meters north of the cache and unable to reach it because of the security rail…
Tip: Visit the “Minchat Ayal”. If you are lucky, people will be flying and fixing their remote control airplanes on Friday mornings (N 32° 06.934 E 34° 54.683).
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
1. gerr
2. Pbirerq jvgu yrnirf